#23- Ariel

Quick Recap: Taisto Kasurinen is a coal miner, but after his mine closes down and his father commits suicide, he decides to head to the big city to find work. He sets out in a vintage car and immediately runs into trouble when his money is stolen. He is able to find a little work and eventually meets a woman.After running across the man who stole his money, Taisto is arrested and sent to jail for assault.Still in love, he breaks out of prison to be with her. More crimes are committed but in the end he, his wife and her son escape to Mexico on a boat called Ariel. MIND BLOWN.

Fun (?) Fact: I hate to reveal all of my secrets, but when doing research for this blog, I tend to find everything I need on Wikipedia. As of yet, I have had no need to search elsewhere. When I found the article for this film, I was disappointed to see that it is rather sparse. However, I did manage to find this gem of a fact: this movie is listed in the ‘1001 movies you should see before you die’ book. You don’t say?

My thoughts: I know nothing about Finland, except that it is cold. So I was intrigued to see that the first foreign film I would be viewing would come from a country I know next to nothing about. After watching Ariel in its entirety, I still know next to nothing BUT I can now make some assumptions for your reading pleasure:

1. The Finnish don’t mess around with emotion.

In the first 5-10 minutes of the film Taisto’s father kills himself in a diner. He tells his son to have his car and then pulls out his gun, walks into the restroom and a couple of seconds later, there is a gunshot. Taisto calmly walks to the back to confirm that his father is dead. He lights up a cigarette and moves on. I have no way of knowing if this is a director’s trademark to have everyone speak in a monotone and keep feelings neutral, as I just have this film to go by. At no point did anyone raise their voice, or cry or smile. In one scene, Taisto sleeps with Imeli, a parking maid he takes out to dinner. After they have sex, she asks if he is going to disappear in the morning. In the driest way possible, he answers, ‘no, I’m going to stay with you forever’. I thought this was sarcasm until he married her.

2. The Finnish are an efficient people.

This movie clocked in at a whopping 74 minutes, beginning to end. I was worried that I would have trouble following the plot since this was a foreign film, but it was as straightforward as it gets. It was like going from point A to point B on a map. There was no subplot and there were very few characters.

3. I know it’s the 80’s but the Finnish had exceptionally bad haircuts.

Once again, this could very well be a director trademark to present his characters in such an unflattering light but even Imeli, the parking maid whom Taisto falls in love with has a horrible hair job going on. Maybe it’s dark most of the year and so haircuts must be done in total darkness, but come on. No one should have to go through life like that.

The one on the top has a mullet with blad spot and the one on bottom has slicked back long hair

4. For entertainment, the Finnish enjoy hanging out on rocks and laying their bottom halves in the water so their jeans can get soaked.

Is this a thing? I refuse to believe that this is a thing.

FInal review: 2/5. A part of me kept expecting the Mystery Science Theater 3000 folk to show up at any point but the plot itself wasn’t so bad and the dialogue was very straightforward. If a person has a desire to watch more foreign films, this would be a decent one to start with.

Where/ how I watched it: Netflix DVD

Up Next: Crumb, my first documentary on this list.

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#22-It Happened One Night

Quick recap: Socialite Ellie Andrews has married a man her father disapproves of. When he annuls the marriage, she runs away to be with her husband. Andrews embarks on a journey to New York by bus that proves difficult because she is rich and also a woman. Peter Warne, a journalist, steps in to help her manage her money and not get taken advantage of because she is rich and also a woman. At some point Andrews falls in love with Warne and of course everyone lives happily ever after. Except Andrews because she is rich and also a woman.

he’s teaching her how to dunk her donut properly because she can’t even do that right

Fun (?) Fact: The next time someone mentions that they love this movie, I’m going to respond with, “Do you know who else loves this movie? HITLER.” Because he totally did. Apparently.

I think I just wanted to mention Hitler so I could post this.

My thoughts: If there is 0ne genre of movie I detest, it would have to be the modern ‘Romantic Comedy’. I can’t quite pin down why I hate them so, but it might have to do with the fact that the woman always seems desperate for a man and falls in love with him in some zany way. And then when I read the description for this movie, I realized that THIS is where it all began and for some reason that gave me hope. Maybe the original romantic comedy is delightful and really funny and sweet and the modern genre has just lost its focus.

NOPE.

As a disclaimer, if I look at this movie in the correct context of 1930’s American culture, I can see why it was such a big hit. It’s an interesting premise to have love blossom on a bus and the main characters are gorgeous. But I’m watching this in 2013 and the plot just doesn’t hold up as well. Ellie Andrews is supposed to be this hard headed woman who will do what she pleases, but what she wants is a man. She needs a man. And she has absolutely no idea how busses work. She seems so strong in the beginning, but by the very first night of running away, she is leaning on Warne’s arm for comfort. She misses the bus the next day and Warne is there to rescue her. At one point he even takes away her money because she isn’t using it properly. She becomes even more helpless as time passes. There is one scene when the two of them try to get some rest in a haystack. Warne walks away for a minute to find food and Andrews FREAKS out. I know that the scene is important to show that she is in love, but she seemed more like a child than an ‘independent woman’. I suppose the two are perfect for each other as one needs constant rescuing and guidance and the other is perfectly happy to fill that role.

And then there is the violence and threatening of violence. I get that that sort of thing was hilarious a long time ago, but it just makes the movie seem dated now. 10 minutes into the first scene, Andrew’s father is slapping her for being silly. In one of the most important scenes where Warne declares his love for Andrews he says, ‘She needs a guy who’d take a sock at her once a day whether she deserves it or not.’ That’s true love, right there.

Plot aside, I really did enjoy the bus scenes with all of the colorful characters and I also fell in love with the motel houses (?) that they stayed in each night. It made me want to buy a bus ticket right then and there, although I don’t think I would have as grand a time. This movie was also set in the 30’s and you know what that means….. spinning newspaper montage!!! No classic film is complete without it.

And Clark Gable, we can’t forget about him. He was the sole reason I found myself drawn to this movie more than I expected to. He was charming and funny and I think I fell in love at some point. The one scene I found truly hilarious was of Warne undressing himself in front of Andrews in an attempt to persuade her to stay with him. I can see why everyone went crazy over him back then.

yet another novel way to threaten a woman

Final review: 3/5. This was a tough one to settle on. I disliked the helplessness of Andrews but on the other hand, CLARK GABLE.

Where/how I watched it: Netflix DVD

Up Next: Ariel, my first foray into subtitled foreign films. Oh boy.

#21- Cabaret

Quick Recap: The movie follows Sally Bowles, an American, and Brian Roberts, an Englishman, as they navigate their way through Berlin in the 1930s. Bowles is a singer at the local Kit Kat club, while Roberts is working on his doctorate in philosophy while tutoring students in English. The two become friends and later lovers. While their affair is going on, the Nazi party is beginning its rise in Germany and by the end of the film has completely taken over Berlin.

Fun (?) Fact: If you are looking for a film version of the stage musical, this ain’t it. Cliff Bradshaw on the stage is now Brian Roberts. Sally Bowles is American instead of British and most of the songs have been cut while others have been added in.

It’s ok because Joel Grey is still the Emcee

My thoughts: Let’s just go ahead and get this out of the way before I start this review: The only association I have of Liza Minnelli and pop culture is this:

other Lucille!

Whew. I feel better now. So anyway, I saw the stage version of ‘Cabaret’ a few years ago and quite enjoyed it so I figured this would be the same but better. The fact that the film version was so different from the stage version took me awhile to pick up on. I just thought that maybe I had slept through the whole thing or just completely missed the point. The themes are the same though.

As someone who doesn’t always enjoy ‘sing talking’, I like the director’s idea to put all musical numbers inside the Kit Kat club and to have them complement the plot that is going on outside.Those scenes were my favorite, especially seeing the rise of the Nazi party in the club. At the beginning of the film, members of the Nazi Party are kicked out but by the end they make up the majority of patrons. It was such a striking way to tell that part of the story.

Liza Minnelli is brilliant in her role as Sally Bowles. She plays the perfect mix of broken, optimistic, captivating girl. I spent the entire movie going back and forth between feeling sorry for her and loving her unique style.

The issue I had with the movie was how hard everyone tried to drive the point that pre war Germany is BAD. It’s a place where people cheat on each other, have abortions and go to a seedy nightclub where anything can happen. So it’s no wonder the Nazi Party has risen to power in all this mess. In reality, it was much more complicated than that. The same goes for the subplot of Fritz and Natalia. It was like someone said, ‘Hey! We are making a film about pre-war Berlin! Where are the Jews? The audience is going to get really confused if we don’t throw in some Jews!’ And so they did.

The most powerful scene in the movie is at the beer garden as the young boy stands up and starts to sing a German national song. He begins the song as a loving tribute to his country and then people start standing up and singing along. At the end of the number, everyone is angry and the song has become a sort of marching song for the Nazi Party.

Final review: 3/5. I loved the musical numbers at the Kit Kat club and loved Liza Minnelli’s performance. I can see why it is considered a great film, but I wouldn’t want to sit through it again.

Where/how I watched it: Netflix DVD while I enjoyed a St. Arnold Icon. It is not my favorite hefeweizen but it was good.

go get some!

Up next: Still waiting on Psycho. Until then, I’ll watch ‘It Happened One Night’

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#20- High Society

Quick Recap: Tracy Samantha Lord, who is in HIGH SOCIETY, is set to marry the very boring George. The only problem is that her ex-husband, Dexter, is still in love with her, as well as a reporter from SPY Magazine. Tracy must choose between these three men. Oh, the problems of being in HIGH SOCIETY. Also, Louis Armstrong starts the movie by basically singing the plot just to make sure everyone is on the same page.

apparently it’s a ton of fun to sing about petty,rich, white people

Fun (?) Fact: At the time of filming, Grace Kelly was only 26, while her love interests were 40 and 53.

I’m going to go ahead and choose Sinatra as the better looking of the two

My Thoughts: I always knew that this ‘musical comedy’ genre of movies existed, but I think this is the first one I actually sat through. As with everything, I do my best to keep an open mind but when the first scene of the movie is a guy singing the plot of the movie, I know I’m doomed. That’s not to say I don’t like musicals; I just don’t think musical comedies are a thing I am going to readily enjoy. The banter between Sinatra and Bing Crosby was fun enough, and oh my god was Grace Kelly gorgeous. Those parts kept me going throughout the NINE musical numbers. All of the musical scenes involve characters sing-talking to each other, which, in my opinion , is the very lowest form of musical selections. On a personal level, there was the novelty of actually seeing Crosby and Sinatra singing for the first time because I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that before. They are extremely talented and it’s no wonder they were so popular. In fact, watching them sing inspired me to broaden my vinyl search the next time I shop at a record store. I dug the crooning style, even if I wasn’t a fan of the actual numbers. And Louis Armstrong was quite a character. I’m not really sure what his point was in the film, except for the trailers to say, ‘Hey! Look! We have Louis Armstrong!’.

The plot of the film was also an issue for me. Here’s Tracy (played by Grace Kelly), who is set to marry a handsome man in good standing, albeit a bit boring. And that’s not good enough for her because her ex-husband (Crosby) is still in love with her. That’s enough of a situation to carry the movie but NO Sinatra has to show up (Mike in the movie) and throw his hat in the ring. At some point, Tracy believes she has slept with Mike, and hilarity ensues when everyone casually tries to figure out the truth. The movie ends with Tracy breaking off her engagement to George right before she is set to marry him and then at the last second, with NO talk beforehand, deciding to remarry her ex. It wasn’t a surprise by any stretch of the imagination but still incredibly silly.

Final review: 2/5. I’m tempted to give it a one but I do have to appreciate the musical talent. Also, watching this movie made me appreciate Seth Macfarlane even more.

the musical numbers are really spot on

Where/ how I watched it: Netflix DVD

Up Next: Psycho or Cabaret, depending on which DVD Netflix sends me first

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